KEY POINTS:
Nine New Zealand athletes will attend a training camp at the New Zealand Academy of Sport South Island's (ASI) Dunedin base to prepare a bobsleigh team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Trials for a talent identification project across New Zealand, funded by Sparc, resulted in the selection of some of the country's strongest and fastest male athletes to form the team.
Although somewhat of a novel concept for New Zealand, there is a potential in the country to excel in bobsleigh given its resourcefulness and the calibre of athletes.
Project co-ordinator and three-time Olympian Dr Angus Ross said initial performances at the open trials over the last fortnight measured up to top overseas bobsleigh teams.
"The initial results are extremely promising and compare well with the data we have on the top overseas teams although of course there is a lot of training to be done between now and Vancouver Olympics for that potential to be realised," he said.
New Zealand snowsport and skeleton teams won medals and gained world rankings in international competition this year.
Forty one athletes fronted for the bobsleigh trials, and a further two tested overseas.
Performances were ranked on their 30m time, jumps and bodyweight.
Following discussion with German bobsleigh coach Gerd Grimme and bobsleigh pilot Alan Henderson, a New Zealander currently in the United Kingdom, it was decided to invite the top nine rather than eight to the training camp in Dunedin on May 24-25. Only one point separated eighth and ninth places.
Four of these athletes will then be selected next year to field a team at next year's world championship at Lake Placid in the United States.
The nine selected athletes include an unnamed Air New Zealand Cup rugby player.
The others are:
Tom Davie (Otago), 22. NZ junior long and triple jump record holder.
Chris Donaldson (Otago), 32. Two-time Olympian and second fastest New Zealander over 100m and NZ record holder over 200m.
Willie Trew (Otago), 27. Rugby winger and sprinter in athletics.
Mike King (Gisborne), 25. Rugby and surf lifesaving background.
Mark Keddell (Auckland) 33. Atlanta Olympian in 200m, NZ junior record holder over 200m, making a comeback after debilitating back injury in the 1990s, No 2 in NZ's all time 200m rankings.
Sam Higgie (Auckland), 26. Former NZ 400m champion.
Don McDonald (Auckland) 31. Former NZ representative at world champs in 4x100m, No 3 in NZ all-time 100m rankings.
Carl Condliffe (Wellington) 26. Former NZ national high jump champion.
- NZPA
